As Pittsburgh emerged from the Great
Depression, efforts were begun to clean up the city's urban area and to
provide better transportation access to and from the Golden Triangle and
the surrounding suburbs.

Under the leadership of Mayor
Cornelius Scully, the city's planners went to work. The first proposal
was for the creation of a 36-acre memorial park at the Point, including
the restoration of Fort Duquesne and Fort Pitt on their original sites.
In 1938 this proposal was put before the National Park Service in
Washington.

In 1939, the city hired New York
consultant Robert Moses to develop a long-term plan for a new system
of roadways to solve the problem of traffic congestion within the Golden
Triangle area. Three months later, in November of 1939, the comprehensive
"Moses Plan" was unveiled.

At a total cost of $38,000,000,
the plan included a Pitt Parkway, from a point east of Wilkinsburg to
downtown Pittsburgh; a cross-town highway at the upper boarder of the
Triangle; reconstruction of Duquesne Way as the first step in a highway
system to encompass the Triangle; removal of the Wabash Station and
railroad tracks leading to it; improvement of Saw Mill Run Boulevard;
removal of trolleys from Downtown streets; removal of the B&O Railroad
station to clear a route for the parkway along the Monongehela River.
The plan discarded the proposed restoration of Fort Pitt as "impractical
and undesirable."

Preliminary work had already begun
in early 1939, with the $1.8 million widening of Bigelow Boulevard to four
lanes, and the $3 million two-level Water Street Bypass. In January of
1940, city and county officials announced that the "Moses Plan" would be
put into motion with reconstruction of Duquesne Way, at a cost of $2.5
million, as the first step. Next on the list were a $1.4 million Liberty
Tubes grade seperation plaza and a $1.5 million extension of Saw Mill Run
Boulevard to the West End.

In October of 1940, Mayor Scully
announced plans for a park at the Point, and a new Point Park commission
was created, with Fred Weir named as chairman. In February of 1942,
archeologists excavating near the Boulevard of the Allies and Liberty
Avenue found parts of the curtain of Fort Pitt.

In August, 1943, Duquesne Way was
completed and opened to traffic. The county commissioners announced that
the next step in the Moses Plan would be the construction of a $10 million
cross-town highway.

As work continued on the roadway
network in 1945, Richard K. Mellon, president of the Pittsburgh Regional
Planning Association, urged concerted action on the plans for the proposed
$6 million state park at the Point. The following year, the Commonwealth
asked city and county officials to contribute a total of $6 million towards
the proposed $31 million Penn-Lincoln Parkway.

As with most plans, the Moses Plan
underwent some changes as it evolved over time. The plan made use of the
existing Wabash, Point and Manchester Bridges. With the Point State Park
project proposing to make use of the entire Point Park area, it was
decided that the Wabash would be demolished along with the rest of the
terminal structures, and the other two point bridges would eventually
be removed in favor of new bridges to replace the old spans.

The Wabash Bridge was dismantled
in 1948 and in February of 1949, the state purchased 13 acres from the
Pennsylvania Railroad to clear the way for the proposed Point Park. Soon
afterwards, detailed plans for the construction of the Penn-Lincoln Parkway
were disclosed, including a large intersection at Carnegie.

The Penn-Lincoln Parkway is nearing
completion. A gap in the highway near the J&L Steel Mill
and the Boulevard of the Allies connection needs to be completed to link
the two sections.

Work on these two massive projects
soon began. In May of 1950, Governor Duff gave the signal that set into
motion an 1800-pound demolition ball that began wrecking a 103-year old
building at 110 Penn Avenue. This was the first of many destined for
destruction in the 36-acre Point Park area. The area was cleared quickly,
and by January of 1953 grading and seeding was underway at the new
park.

Work progresses on the Penn-Lincoln
Parkway near downtown Pittsburgh.
The Boulevard of the Allies runs atop the hillside to the left.

Work and planning continued on the
proposed Penn-Lincoln Parkway, and plans were announced for a toll tunnel
under Mount Washington as the most feasible way to finance that link in
the highway. In 1954, contracts were awarded for the basic design of the
$25 million Fort Pitt Tunnel under Duquesne Heights. In early 1956,
contracts totalling $10.5 million were awarded for two major projects on the
Penn-Lincoln Parkway, the downtown link and the Fort Pitt Bridge.

The Penn-Lincoln Parkway in 1958. The Blvd of
the Allies is atop the hillside to the left.

In April of that same year ground was
broken for construction of the Fort Pitt Tunnels to link the eastern and
western sections of the Penn-Lincoln Parkway. Drilling of the tunnels began
in August of 1956. In January of 1958, in its 12th year of construction,
the Penn-Lincoln Parkway was directly linked to the downtown area with the
opening of the Grant Street outbound ramp.

The Fort Pitt Bridge in 1958 is nearing
completion.

The State Highway Commission, in
November of 1958, awarded contracts totalling $3.4 million for the construction
of the Crosstown Boulevard, and in June of 1959, the Fort Pitt Bridge was
completed. The tunnel opened in September of 1960, and that same year work
was begun on a $20 million extension of the Penn-Lincoln Parkway eastward,
linking it to the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The Golden Triangle in 1963, showing
the results of the Moses Plan. Also shown above is the "Bridge To Nowhere."

After the Fort Pitt Bridge was
completed, work immediately began on the Fort Duquesne Bridge, on the
opposite end of the Crosstown Boulevard. Interestingly, the Fort Duquesne
Bridge was completed in 1963, but its span ended without the construction
of a bridge ramp on the North Side. For several years the bridge was referred
to as the "Bridge To Nowhere." When work began on Three Rivers Stadium in 1968,
construction also started on the northern bridge ramps.

The Fort Duquesne Bridge's northern ramps are
nearing completion in 1969. Three Rivers Stadium is also under construction.

When the Fort Duquesne Bridge was
finally completed in 1968, it marked the formal end of the implementation
of the Moses Plan. The arterial network coming into and out of the city
was now complete. Although the plan did not unfold exactly as originally
designed, when completed it accomplished everything that Robert Moses had
intended, and the Golden Triangle's look had been altered in many positive
ways, both aesthetically and functionally.

When the old Manchester and Point
bridges were dismantled in 1970, they cleared the way for the final development
of Point State Park. The Park's signature attraction, the 150 foot fountain
was dedicated on August 30, 1974. This marked the end of the two projects,
the "Moses Plan" and the creation of Point State Park, both begun during the
administration of Mayor Scully.